£78 million loss forces 'substantial change' at Blackberry-maker RIM

Blackberry-maker Research in Motion is pulling back on attempts
to compete with iPhone and Android, and has said it will refocus its efforts on corporate
customers.

The Canadian company reported a disastrous $125 million (£78m) loss during the
fourth quarter, and said its $4.2bn (£2.6bn) revenues were down by
19 percent from the previous quarter. Blackberry smartphone sales
stalled, too, dropping 21 percent to just 11.1 million units.

"I think as the benefit of going through this process from the
vantage point of CEO, it is now very clear to me that substantial
change is what RIM needs," said the firm's recently-installed chief
executive, Thorsten Heins.

"I am focused on creating long-term value for this company, and
I'm committed to do whatever it takes to deliver on that
commitment."

His comments, made during an earnings call and transcribed by Seeking Alpha, suggest a change of
direction, away from the smartphone market and back towards the
business side. "We plan to refocus on the enterprise business and
capitalize on our leading position in this segment," Heins
said.

"We were delayed to the bring-your-own-device movement," the CEO
explains. That's the idea of buying your own Blackberry and then
using it for work. "We saw a significant slowing down in our
enterprise subscriber growth rate as a result. I am committed with
my team to reclaiming lost market share in this space."

"We believe that BlackBerry cannot succeed if we try to be
everybody's darling and all things to all people," Heins,
previously chief technology officer at Siemens, said during the
call.

"Therefore, we plan to build on our strengths to go after
targeted consumer segments, and we will seek strong partnerships to
deliver those consumer features and content that are not central to
the BlackBerry valuable position, for example, media consumption
applications."

After this call went out, RIM was quick to assure people that
it's not ditching consumer devices entirely. "The claim that RIM
has said it will withdraw from the consumer market is wholly
misleading," Patrick Spence, a top marketing executive at the
company, said in a statement, picked up by The Register.

"Whilst we announced plans to refocus our efforts on our core
strengths, and on our enterprise customer base, we were very
explicit that we will continue to build on our strengths to go
after targeted consumer segments."